Incidence of thrombocytopenia in seropositive dengue patients

Dengue has become a major health concern globally in recent decades. Dengue infected patients manifest a spectrum of symptoms and in severe cases the fate is mortality. A hallmark of dengue infection is thrombocytopenia which causes concern for the patients and treating doctors. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of thrombocytopenia in seropositive dengue patients. Bleeding manifestation was also investigated in dengue patients to evaluate its association with the severity of thrombocytopenia. In this study, 750 individuals were screened for dengue infection by detecting immunoglobulin M (IgM) against dengue virus in their serum. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed for detection of IgM antibody and 250 individuals were found to be seropositive. Platelet counts were performed on whole blood of seropositive patients using Sysmex XE-5000 Automated Hematology Analyzer. Among 250 dengue patients, 2% had severe thrombocytopenia, 65.2% were found to have mild to moderate thrombocytopenia and 32.8% had normal platelet counts. Bleeding was related to the severity of thrombocytopenia as 80% of patients having platelet count lower than 25000/μl showed bleeding manifestations.